For Love and For Glory
by bjhovey
Summary: Corrin is finally feeling at home around the Smash 4 roster. He has some acquaintances, some familiar faces. Then one fight changes things entirely, and he has to adjust to a new face in his life. She can't seem to beat him on the stage, but is fighting on either of their minds? Or is it something else?
1. The First Battle

The First Battle

Wow, she's hot.

That's what I was thinking when she drew her sword. I know, I know, how could that be on my mind when I only had a few seconds before I had to do anything I could to destroy her in this sword fight? But it doesn't feel like that when you're smashing. You don't feel any pain, and you know they won't either. You know you can't injure them or cause any permanent damage. You'll both feel the same afterwards.

Physically, anyways.

But I knew from the second the announcer yelled "Go!" that emotionally, I wouldn't leave that fight the same way I entered it. Sure, the fights had changed me a little in the short time I had spent on the roster, but not like this. When I saw the blue haired beauty draw her sword, she had my heart. We fought like any other match, and racked up some damage quickly. She hit me with quick, precise blows right where it mattered. It wasn't quite enough though, and the first kill was mine. I felt kind of bad, sending her flying off into the distance. Just like I said before though, I knew I hadn't hurt her. That made it okay, I guess. So we continued to battle fiercely and I can happily say I didn't lose a stock that match. If these feelings meant anything at all, I knew I couldn't bring anything but my best game. So I didn't. She smiled and clapped as the results came in and I could tell she respected me for defeating her so well.

I figured I was done for the day. I entered the healing room to zap away my bruises and get me looking as good as new. A voice was coming from the room to the left of me. You're only allowed in the rooms by yourself, so I decided they must have been talking to themselves.

And then I heard a response. Another voice was in the room.

I pressed my ear to the somewhat thin wall to eavesdrop on the conversation I didn't think was possible. On top of that, the second voice didn't really sound like it was... well, speaking. Something else...

"I mean it, buddy! You did great out there. I could have brought back the match after you were gone, you can't blame yourself entirely for the loss." a girl's voice said reassuringly. Not the girl I had just fought, this voice was more lighthearted. A sad, sigh-like chirping noise answered her. Whatever she had with her didn't seem to be human.

At that moment, my mind was more focused on the stunning girl I had battled, so I dismissed the strange inter-species communication I had overheard. Just then I heard the ring go off letting me know I should either leave or get ready for the next match. So I left the healing room and headed toward my quarters to unwind. The males' wing was fairly close, so it didn't take long to get there. Ike passed me on my way down the hall.

"Hey, Corrin. How are things going for you?" he asked. It was nice to have someone who was at least from my world to talk to.

I waved, "Not bad at all. You heading to the fights?"

"Yeah," he replied, "I think I'll just play For Fun tonight, I'm not really feeling the competitive scene tonight."

"Cool," I nodded, "See you later."

We parted ways and I retired to my room. My mind immediately wandered back to that girl. I couldn't get over her amazing looks and the obvious passion she had for fighting. You could see as she lost that her efforts had been strained into the fierce combat she tried so hard to display. Perhaps I should have gone easier on her. It was okay though. I knew I'd see her again.


	2. A Couple of Voices

A Couple of Voices

The day after I saw _her_ , the two voices from the healing room suddenly registered themselves in my mind to a duo I had seen around. I don't know how I didn't make the connection before then. I didn't know the girl's name, but Luma, her little star shaped companion, was a well known character around the commons. He was a very excitable little thing, bouncing around, seeing what everybody was doing. Breakfast was kinda a slow time at Brewster's cafe, since not many people bothered to be up early enough. But Luma was energetic enough for the rest of them, so the small bunch of us there was always plenty of excitement. I recognized a few regulars to breakfast with Brewster. Both of the Wii Fit Trainers always showed up together, the epitomes of a healthy lifestyle. Lucas and Ness liked to be there but slept in too late half the time. Sonic was normally there a little while before me, being so fast and all. And then there was that girl and her Luma. I surprised myself when I realized I didn't know her name. Should I have introduced myself? Probably. Did I? No, not right now. It was a sleepy morning for me.

At that time I enjoyed sparring non-competitively for a few hours in the mornings. A bunch of us always came as a group we organized a little while back. It included Mario, Luigi, Peach, Pit and Palutena. We had recently started a little round robin tournament, just for fun. The day before I had battled Palutena, only to lose to her because I hadn't gotten used to her fighting style yet. I still think it's sort of strange. Then I made quick work of Luigi and was done with that for the day. Now my next partner was Peach. I had only fought her once or twice before, but she seemed like a fun opponent.

We shook hands before the fight, as we normally do with the casual ones. She immediately pulled a turnip out of the ground, and I could tell it was going to be a long battle. It was a few minutes before either of us got a hit on each other, then it didn't really get any more fast paced from there. The whole thing was careful, calculated jabs here and there, trying to get hits in without paying for it. She got the first kill, then I turned it around. We were both on our last legs when I took one last hit and she launched me away from the stage. It was a good fight, and I was okay with how it turned out.

Pit was up next against me. I wasn't so sure in my ability to beat him. He shot me a couple times right at the start. That's when I knew I had it coming. I lost my first stock faster than I took one off Luigi the day before. Then things took a turn for the better and he lost one as well. He grinned at me and fired a few more arrows at me. I was able to dodge them and fight back decently. Just as I was starting to really get worn down, I was able to unleash a good thrust with my dragon arm and Pit was done for.

This meant I had one more match, which would have to wait for tomorrow. I knew Mario was a good fighter, but I was pretty confident I could at least put up a good fight. Whether or not I had a shot at first place, I was doubtful. Statistically, I had a chance to tie, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Either way, I needed a break before I went back to For Glory later.

I wandered out of my room that afternoon, ready to go. I wasn't necessarily refreshed, but the healing rooms do wonders for your energy. That'd be enough. I approached the empty elevator to the 1 on 1 queue, then I heard a somewhat familiar voice down the hallway behind me.

"Hey, hold the elevator for us!" the feminine voice called as I heard a pair of footsteps speed up along the floor and a cute little noise. I pressed the button to keep the door open and stood back in the corner of the lift. The girl with the Luma came in first, with Luma cheerily sitting on her shoulder. Then behind her, another girl entered.

It was the beautiful girl I fought yesterday. Her dark, royal blue hair settled down on her shoulders as she stopped next to me. I smiled awkwardly and tried to keep calm. The door closed and the longest elevator ride I had ever taken began.


	3. Meeting Up

Meeting Up

I was in an elevator with the girl of my dreams and a star. A literal _star_ , but still, most people couldn't say the same. The conversation I was about to have was what I had been wanting, although I wasn't sure I was ready. Too bad for me, I guess.

"Thanks, Rosy. I would have hated if we had to wait for the next one. They take _so_ long to come down," said the blue haired girl who I couldn't help but admire. Even her voice was pretty, enough that I cherished her every word. It was almost as if the entire world was made for her...

"That is your name, isn't it? Corrin?" Luma's owner nudged me slightly. I almost forgot they were actually there. She startled me a bit, but I regained my composure.

"Yeah, that's me," I grinned. They chuckled at me, and once again I found myself lost in my crush's voice. Even just the sound of her laugh entranced me. But I wasn't about to zone out again.

"My name is Rosalina," the other girl smiled. Luma happily bounced on her shoulder, "and I think you've met Luma at the cafe. Considering he can't talk, he's probably the most social around here."

"Yeah. Oh, and I'm Lucina," she smiled at me and melted my heart in doing so. Such a sweet name, the perfect compliment to the image of effortless elegance. I struggled to respond, but I found that my surprisingly strong will was up to the challenge.

I spoke, "Nice to meet the both of you. It's nice to get to know people, considering I'm still fairly new around here."

"We were both new a while back, when they brought in the newest big group," Rosalina explained, then Lucina added, "Some people have been around a lot longer."

I nodded and kept making conversation with them. They told me how neither of them played For Glory very much, so it was no wonder I hadn't seen Lucina before. They seemed to be pretty good friends, but not really close. The elevator ride wasn't super long, so the conversation ended there at the top. We split up and wished each other good luck. But Lucina's last words stayed in my mind as she turned away:

"I hope to cross swords again today, Corrin."


	4. Dueling With The Star(s)

Dueling With The Star(s)

She wanted to fight me again. Was that a good thing? It could be a bad thing, of course. She _did_ want to fight me after all. But maybe it was for a chance to prove herself against me after her defeat yesterday. I had no clue. Either way, I wanted the same thing because it meant I would get to see more of her. With any luck, I'd get that opportunity. I've always been told I have 'the devil's own luck' by my brother. It was time to see how far that could take me.

My first real fight of the day was, sure enough, against my new friend from the elevator.

No, not Lucina. It was Rosalina and her little buddy. I think I'd fought them once before. I must say that their fighting style is very _different_ , with Luma doing most of the work. I enjoyed fighting against them, but I had to do whatever it took since this was a fight that mattered. Every For Glory match matters to me, and I'm sure everyone else shares that opinion. Anyway, Luma and I fought until I was able to knock him away. That doesn't mean much when fighting these two, though. I still had to get Rosalina off too. Lucky for me she's not real defensive on her own, and I managed to launch her without taking any more damage. Normally I don't taunt my opponents, but I figured I'd rub it in to _Rosy_ , as Lucina called her. A roar escaped my dragon's lungs.

She and Luma came back to the fight with renewed vigor and I knew I had given them that energy as part of the teasing I gave them. That turned out to be my fatal flaw, and Luma battered me to a pulp until I flew off the stage not once, but twice. Game over.

Rosalina laughed at me as I applauded her after the fight. We're not allowed to make any kind of conversation there, so I shrugged it off and headed off to the healing room. I had been a bit curious as to how the door reacts to more than one person going through, since they normally only allow one. Watching them as they entered their room, I noticed that the door closed behind Rosalina, then Luma pushed through a doggy door near the bottom. I hadn't thought of going through the closed door. Clever.

I walked into the healing room and felt the pain from my loss leave my muscles and be replaced with new energy and strength. It was a fun fight, and at least I knew why I had lost. I ought to be careful what I do when I face those two on the stage. I could hear Luma celebrating, but I knew they weren't very close so I didn't bother trying to listen in. Just rested up for the next fight.

"Hyah!"

Oh hello Link, nice hit on me there.

"Ha! Hyaaaah!"

Of course, nice one.

"Haaaaaa!"

Nope, you're done bro. I won that one. Healing room again. I'm bored. So long, For Glory. Seeya later.

That sums up my thoughts during my fight against Link. I went for a walk after that, wandering around until I ended up at Brewster's for the second time that day. Lucky me though, I found someone to talk to. Someone I had never seen there before: Lucina.


	5. Tea With A Side of Blue

Tea With A Side of Blue

Her back was turned to the entrance, so she didn't see me enter. In her hands she held a cup of tea which she stirred very gently and absentmindedly. The somewhat tall stools left her feet dangling, which she swung back and forth. Her sword, Falchion, hung in its sheath at her side. Marth had the exact same sword, but I never bothered to ask how that happened. Maybe they were related? Either way, I decided to join her. She dropped her spoon in her drink and jumped a little when I suddenly filled the empty spot at her table.

"Oh, uh, hello! Corrin, you startled me. What's going on?" she asked, shaken.

I laughed, "Not much. Sorry about that. I guess we both had a short night, huh?"

Lucina nodded, "Yes. I was looking forward to battling with you again, but I wasn't feeling my usual strength tonight."

"Same here. I had no real desire to keep fighting. By the way, you fought well yesterday."

"Uh, thanks!" her cheeks reddened somewhat, "So did you. I like how you work your transformation into the fighting. Are you a manakete? Or a taguel?"

That confused me, "A manakete? I've never heard of such things. No, I belong to the royal family of Hoshido, which gives me dragons' blood. With my dragonstone I can transform into that beast you saw yesterday."

"Where I come from we have a race called the Manaketes who have similar abilities. I've only seen three in my lifetime, although I believe there were more of them in the past."

"I'm the only person I know of who can do what I do. That is strangely similar though," I said.

She changed the topic, "So, where exactly are you from, anyway?"

"My real family is Hoshidan, the royal family of the kingdom of Hoshido. However, I spent most of my life among the Nohrian royals."

"Hoshido and Nohr? In my world, yours is a mythical world. Fascinating."

At that moment, it took all my strength to avoid saying something along the lines of "Let me be your fantasy." Instead, I decided to smile and nod.

"Really? Wow. I suppose you might have heard of me before, then?" I smiled.

She shook her head, "No, I hadn't."

"Oh well," I shrugged, "It was worth a try."

Lucina laughed, "Well, I'm getting a bit tired. I think I'll head back to my room for the night."

"It's a bit early, don't you think?" I tried to stall her from leaving, at least for a while.

"Well, perhaps," she nodded, "I'll be going all the same. It was quite enjoyable talking you, Corrin. Maybe we could do it again sometime. Either way, we should see each other soon."

"Yes, I think we will. Goodnight, Lucina."

She stood up and turned away with a smile on her face, "Goodnight."

I watched her leave, then felt a silly grin spread across my face. That went surprisingly well. The cafe was still a bit busy, with Mario and his friends normally coming here at night. Lucario and Mewtwo sat by the corner, talking about some sort of statistical lingo I didn't understand. Cloud, Roy and Marth enjoyed conversing in Japanese to each other. Then there was always Kirby and King Dedede stuffing their faces, not for the first time that day. Captain Falcon and Sonic were talking about some sort of speed mathematics and F-Zero racing. Falcon, as I observed from time to time, had a very minor case of tourrete syndrome, and once in a while he would ask the person closest to him to show him their moves. This usually either got no reaction, since everyone was used to it, or a rather negative one.

It wasn't until later in the night that I left the cafe. Then I went to my room, but I found that I was having trouble sleeping. Not an unfamiliar experience for me, so I knew taking another walk might help. Leaving my room, I found myself back by the elevator I had taken earlier. That was when I heard footsteps coming from... somewhere. I couldn't tell where, but I knew there was someone not far away. It almost sounded like they were coming closer. I decided to try and find out who it was. Nobody else would have any reason to be here this late. Then again, neither did I.

I walked in the direction that sounded the closest to the footsteps. But no matter which way I went, the sound never got louder or quieter. But they continued consistently. Almost as if someone was pacing back and forth, but somehow in a way that I wouldn't see them. They couldn't be anywhere I had already gone. Then I had the idea of going up the elevator and checking up there. Nobody would be smashing this late, so if someone was up there, it would be the one I was looking for.


	6. A Night With No Stars

A Night With No Stars

As soon as the door of the elevator closed behind me, the darkness enveloped me. Only a small red emergency light glowed on the escape hatch at the top of the lift. That disturbed me a bit, but much of my childhood was spent in a dark environment. It was nothing I couldn't handle. The walking did seem to get louder as I ascended. The dark gave me a sense of paranoia, and it occurred to me that I might have made a bad choice, following an unknown person in the dead of night. There was nothing to be done about it now though, so I dismissed my suspicions and instead thought about my talk with Lucina at the cafe. It made me happy to know that in just two days I had gone from not knowing her to having a large but very realistic crush on her. We were well acquainted, after all. Me and my beautiful cobalt haired princ- er... was she a princess? It seemed so, and I suppose I had just assumed it without asking. Whatever.

Ding! The elevator stopped. I took a deep breath and stepped out. I peered down the hall both ways, and I could make out a silhouette coming my way. It looked female, but other than that I had no clue who it was. They must have noticed me, but they didn't show it. I slowly started to walk toward them. It was still very dark, with seldom an emergency light casting a very, very dim red glow on certain parts of the walls. My fears subsided, because I couldn't think of any female smashers who would do me any harm. Bayonetta? Probably not, but I wouldn't put it past her.

Luckily, it turned out to be someone I trusted. She must have recognized me first, because I still wasn't sure who it was. That is, until she said my name.

"Corrin?" her voice drifted softly down the hall. It befuddled me for a moment, since she was without something that was always by her side. Not something really, but someone. Rosalina without her tiny friend was an uncommon sight indeed. And by her tone of voice, it mightn't have been one I was supposed to see.

"Is that you, Rosalina?" I asked, even though I knew it was. I really only asked because I was still a bit puzzled by Luma's absence.

A light shone through the darkness. It was her wand, which I never noticed could shine. She was giving me a rather empty look, as if she was lost in thoughts. All alone on an empty floor, I didn't blame her. She was wearing a white jumpsuit with a blue outline the same color as her usual dress. It was quite the look for her, that and being without her star. I also noticed her crown was missing, which was probably because she had gone to bed. I figured she was doing the same thing I was.

"What are you doing here?" she asked me, still staring with a vacant look in her eyes.

I shrugged, "I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. Then I heard you walking and decided to see who it was."

Her gaze refocused, but didn't waver, "That wasn't exactly your best idea."

Chuckling, I agreed, "Yeah, probably not. I'm glad it was only you. What are you doing?"

"I was just pondering something," she looked up to the ceiling, "No big deal."

"Might I ask what it was?" I inquired.

I couldn't see the color of her face well in the dim light, but I could tell it had shifted to a darker, pinker shade. She shook her head, "No, no, it's a p-private matter. I would do well to keep it to myself for now," she trailed off under her breath, and I thought I heard her say Lucy.

"What was that last bit?" I probably shouldn't have asked, but I did.

She looked away and blushed, "N-nothing. It's getting very late, I should be back to bed. Luma doesn't always sleep well and he'll worry if I'm not there. Goodbye, Corrin."

I stood there a bit dumbfounded at her sudden urgency. As she rushed down the hall and opened the door to the elevator, I managed to respond, "Bye."

I had to wait for the elevator to come back, so I took my time strolling back down the long hallway. That conversation was a lot to take in, for sure. What did it mean? Surely it was nothing. Just some secret between her and Lucina that I wasn't meant to know. I could respect that. If only it had been that simple.


	7. Lonely Wandering Star

Lonely Wandering Star

I woke up sore in the morning. Maybe it was from lack of sleep last night. I was out pretty late. Not wanting to get out of bed, I slept in that day. By the time I got out of my room, Brewster's Cafe was closed for the morning. So I headed straight for my little group of fighting buddies. I was set to fight Mario today, even though my muscles told me to do nothing of the sort.

That feeling of doubt was fulfilled when Mario pummeled my aching body. I tried to fight back, but it just wasn't happening. He beat me with barely a scratch on him. That was okay though, I was glad to be done. We tallied up the results for the tournament. I had come second last, better than Pit who had only beat Mario. That had been Mario's only loss though, so he won the tournament. I wasn't real disappointed, the whole thing was just for fun. I needed to sit and relax somewhere for a while.

I went to Dr. Mario's room to see if he had anything to relieve my aching. He must have been out doing something, because I couldn't find him. On my way to my own room I came across Luma. He was just walking down the hall, humming a joyous little tune. Rosalina was nowhere in sight, so I was a tad worried about the little guy being all alone. I knelt down next to him.

"Hey there buddy. How are you doing?" I felt kind of silly, but I don't know why. He understood me, and if he could speak he would have answered me.

He chirped at me giddily. Obviously the little star was enjoying himself. But I couldn't help wondering why Rosalina wasn't with him. There was a part of me that wanted to help him, and a part of me that wanted to take a nap. Those two parts of me decided to compromise.

"Where's Rosy?" I asked him. He didn't seem to know. I asked again, but he must have understood me the first time. He had no clue where his owner was.

"Why don't you come with me then? We'll find her later," I promised. He was okay with that. I held out my hand and he jumped up onto my shoulder. Then I brought him to my room. He jumped down onto the floor and I crashed on my bed. Luma explored what little decoration I had in my room, then sat on the floor and seemed to be thinking about something. I laid in my bed quietly, keeping an eye on him. We chilled for a couple hours, doing absolutely nothing.

My relaxation was interrupted by an angry sounding knock at my door.

"Hello?" I called without even sitting up.

"Corrin? Have you seen Luma?" Lucina asked in a demanding voice. In hindsight, it probably wasn't smart of me to take this lost little guy into my room for hours and not tell anybody.

"Yeah, he's in here," I responded. She threw open the door and Luma chirped with surprise. He jumped into Lucina's arms.

She gave me a distressed look, "Why was he here?"

I blushed, with embarrassment instead of my normal nervousness with the girl I had grown to admire. I admitted, "I found him wandering the halls on my way to my room for a nap. I wanted to help but I really needed to unwind, so I brought him here. It was only going to be for a few minutes but then-"

She cut me off, "It's fine, Corrin. Don't worry. I'm not mad at you, I'm just stressed out. Rosy and I have been looking for him everywhere."

"Sorry, Lucina. It's kind of my fault."

"Just call me Lucy, it's fine," she sighed, "Look, he was better here than he was out in the hallways somewhere. Thank you for taking him."

"No problem I guess," I smiled, "By the way, I meant to ask you something I was curious about."

"Sure," Lucina nodded.

I hesitated, "Are you, er, royalty? I felt like you were but I never really knew for sure."

"Yeah, I am," she said, "I'm the princess of Ylisse."

"Cool. Anyway, you should go tell Rosalina you found him," I nodded at Luma. He twirled.

"Right," she grinned, "See you later, Corrin."

I took about five minutes to fall asleep. It was late when I woke up, so I stayed in bed. A day well spent? Depends on your perspective. It was good enough for me.


	8. Following The Star

Following The Star

I was up really early that next day since I wasn't tired when I fell asleep. Those extra hours were spent reading old combat textbooks from home. I'll never get anything out of them anymore, but I enjoyed the feeling of Nohr that I got from them. The thing about being here at Smash is that it's not like I'll never be back home, but it'll be a long time. That lets me miss home without being sad because I'll see it again someday.

That morning I heard a soft knock at my door. I couldn't tell who it was, so I almost pretended I was still asleep. But I'm glad I answered it. Luma looked up at me from his foot-tall height. At first I thought he was lost again, but just as I opened my mouth to complain, he revealed a scrap of paper from under his arm and lifted it up to me. I grabbed it and read the message scrawled on it.

 _Come to my room, I need to talk to you about something. Don't bring anyone, except Luma. Don't worry, I'm not mad about yesterday. It's... something else._  
 _-Rosy_

That kind of bothered me that she had something important to talk about in secret with me. But I figured the worst thing I could do was ignore it. So I combed my hair out of my face and followed the excited little star I had started to think of as a friend down the hall to the other wing of the dorms.

I had never even been near the girls' dorms before. The halls were the same, but the atmosphere was different. It was almost as if the wing itself smelled nicer than ours. I was a bit curious as to who lived in which dorm. It's not like I had any time to slow down though. Luma was as chipper as ever, and if I stopped even just for a second, I knew I'd never find Rosalina's room. That changed my train of thought. What did she want? Did it have to do with whatever she was nervous about at the top of the elevator? Only time would tell.

Shivers ran down my spine. I would have taken a deep breath and calmed down, but Luma didn't hesitate to push on the unlatched door. Nothing I could do about it. Here we go.

It swung open to reveal their room, very neat and organized. Her bed was made, with her laying on top of the covers. She was wearing the same outfit as she was when I ran into her that night. It must have been what she wore to bed. The shade of blue almost looked _sporty_. Maybe there was a reason for that. Either way, she smiled at me with a welcoming gaze when she saw me through the doorway. I stepped in and smiled back, still nervous.

"Hey, Corrin. Thanks for coming. I've just had something on my mind lately that I have to let out," she explained.

I nodded, "Of course, what is it?"

She motioned for me to come closer, and when I did, she quieted down, "Anything that happens while you're here stays within this room, okay? No matter how you react, I need you to promise me that."

"Uh, sure," I said as confusion flowed through me. What was this all about?

"Okay, so I know you like Lucina."

"Wait, what?" I tried not to look shocked.

"Don't worry, it's not obvious. I'm just good at reading people. But listen, you know how I'm her friend, right?" she smirked a little.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"This is where the secrecy part comes in. She totally likes you back."

My eyebrows raised, "And how do you know that?"

"That's the kind of thing us girls talk about. So I know everything she likes about you. I could help you out. Let you know what she thinks of you."

"Don't you think she'd be upset to know you're telling me her secrets?" I worried.

"That's why it's a secret. She doesn't find out," Rosy winked.

"Okay, so let's say I agree to this. What's in it for you? Why would you bother to help me?"

She shrugged, "Who says there's nothing I want? Maybe you could pay me back..."

Her tone unnerved me, "What do you mean?"

She motioned for me to lean in. Despite my negative anticipations, I obeyed. Did I foresee what happened next? Honestly, no. Should I have foreseen it? Yeah, probably.

But no, what happened next was a big surprise.


	9. Sealing The Deal

Sealing The Deal

My memory fails to tell me the details of that moment. I do remember some simple things though. Shock was one of them. That, and one other thing.

It was the feeling of her lips the moment they met mine. They were soft, but firm. Was it a good kiss? At that time, I had no clue. That was my first kiss. Some people have stories of their first kisses being magical, horrible, or anywhere in between. Mine was somewhat of a ransom payment for the info I wanted from Rosy. Even looking back, I don't remember enough to say whether or not it was good at all.

The important thing about the situation was something else, though. I was presented with a big problem. Regardless of my intent, I had just gone from confirming the mutual interest of my crush to kissing another girl. Shortly after my mouth was free from hers, I said a word that, due to my default state of overall innocence, I wouldn't normally consider saying, preceded by 'what the'.

She giggled, "There we go. I think that's fair payment. You see, when Lucy told me about her attraction to you, I was supportive. But I saw exactly where she was coming from and I knew she had convinced me that you were irresistible. That night we met in the darkness? I was deciding what to do about all of this. I knew Lucy would never forgive me if she found out, and that's why she won't."

"Why shouldn't I go and tell her right now?" I threatened, "I'm sure she'd love to hear about her friend stealing her man."

"Do you really think she'd trust you over me? I've known her ever since we got here. Surely her most trusted, innocent, sweet friend would never do anything to betray her. Not only that, but would she still want you if she thought you had tried to turn her against me? No, I think it's better for the both of us if you keep quiet about this and cooperate."

I knew she was right. Lucy wouldn't trust me if I told her, even if she believed me. Whether it was the honest thing to do or not, it was the only way to keep things moving forward between Lucina and I. At least I would get what I wanted out of it. Information.

I grunted, "I can't argue with you. It's for the best that we keep this between us. Now, pay up on your half of the deal. What should I know about Lucy?"

"Well, she likes the idea of you being a dragon. I'm sure she'd love to caress your scaly..."

"I haven't got scales really. And you can hold off on your fantasies for now. Anything else you can tell me?"

She made a thoughtful face, "Well, there is one thing..."

I was about to ask what it was, but Rosy stopped me. Her eyes suddenly sparked with concern and panic.

"Those are Lucy's footsteps," she exclaimed in a hushed voice, "She must be coming here. Hide!"

Not having a better idea, my eyes darted around to find a place to be out of sight. I probably wouldn't have done well between the bed and the wall. Where else was there? We were on the fourth story, otherwise I might have chanced a leap from the window. It occurred to me that Rosalina's closet door was slightly ajar. With no other option, I quickly got behind the door and softly closed it behind me. Of all the places to hide, this was probably the most personal.

That was about when Lucy knocked at the door of Rosy's dorm. Here we go.


	10. Blindly In Love

Blindly In Love

It was a bit embarrassing to be in Rosalina's closet. Her clothes were hung up, with her usual outfits by themselves on the wall. Obviously she also had underwear in there, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. The wall to my right as I walked in the door had a framed photograph of her in which she looked a fair bit younger. Luma was there, along with more of his kind. The little stars were all different colors. The picture was of Rosy sitting in the middle of about thirty of her tiny companions. The Luma I knew sat on her lap happily. Were they all family? Although I had been a bit curious about the little guy, this kind of raised more questions than it answered. Even more curiously, the word 'Mama' was signed along the bottom of it with a sparkly marker. Most of what I had seen was lit by light shining under the door, so it wasn't the most detailed view of the closet. Perhaps that was for the best.

Rosalina's voice rang out, "Come on in!"

As much as I'd love to glorify Lucina's every movement as her elegant form moved across the room to the corner of Rosy's bed, the door didn't allow for that. Let's just say that she walked over and sat down.

"How's my little buddy this morning?" Lucy playfully cooed at Luma. A muffled, cheerful noise responded. I think he had been laying face down on his cat bed in the corner.

"What brings you here?" Rosalina asked.

"I've got a solution to my Corrin problem." Lucina answered. Wait, what? Her Corrin problem? I thought Rosy said she liked me. Maybe it was something good, like whether or not to tell me, or at least not something bad. I could only hope.

"Tell me all about it," she inquired, probably to make sure I got all the details. My heartfelt thanks went out to her, in silent.

"No, I was going to come in and tell you I had it all figured out and then not tell you," I could feel the eye roll from where I was.

"It's kinda cold in here," Rosy said. I had felt the temperature drop, too. She closed the window with a noticeable _clunk_.

"Anyways, here's the deal," Lucina moved on the bed, but of course I couldn't tell how. My mind's eye liked to think she stretched out along the length of it, gracefully extending her limbs. Her arms raised above her head and her fingertips grazed the wall behind her. She laid with one leg bent and the other one straight out, her foot hanging off the end of the bed. Oh right, I was listening to her 'Corrin problem'.

She continued, "I think I'm going to give it a month, and then do it. I just want to make sure it's exactly what I want. I'd never forgive myself if I screwed this up. What do you think?"

"Sounds good, I'll mark my calendar a month from today then," Rosalina teased, "And I'll hold you to it, of course."

"Of course you will. I shouldn't have said anything. Anyway, what's going on with you?"

The conversation kept on, but I didn't care about anything else they had to say. I couldn't seem to keep my eyes open, preferring to close them and daydream about my girl on the other side of the door. In my head, she held a pose, her arms resting above her head, her elbows on the pillow behind her. The ends of her hair fell across her chest. Her warm, calming voice rambled on about... something. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered, not for those few seconds before I drifted off.


	11. A False Lunchtime

A False Lunchtime

I woke up suddenly to a pain in the back of my head from tumbling out of the closet, and Rosy looking down at me.

She scoffed, "You know what? I was going to be mad, but I really don't care. Just get out of here."

I obeyed, standing up, "Heh, sorry about that. What time is it?"

"I don't know, almost noon? Anyways, anything that happened here today stays between us, okay? Even if you don't like it, you know it's for the best."

"Yeah, yeah. I know it is. That doesn't make this okay, though," I argued.

"And what are you going to do about it?" she challenged, "Just keep it quiet. And remember, the offer's still open. If you want more info, it'll only cost a single kiss. Happy doing business with you. Now, Lucy said she wanted to try and find you after lunch, which means soon. I'd head to the cafe and see if she's still there if I were you."

I nodded, "Okay, thanks. Say, why are you helping me with her? Why aren't you trying to win me over?"

Rosalina shrugged, "This is good enough for me. She can have you. Maybe if she decides she doesn't want you, then I'd be interested. But no, for now, I'm rooting for the two of you. Now shut up and go get her!"

"Right. I don't have bedhead, do I?"

She ruffled my hair and pushed me out the door without another word. Hoping nobody would see me, I escaped undetected from the girls' wing. Rosy said the cafe... I wasn't sure how to get there from here. I ended up having to go to the other wing of the dorms and backtracking until I knew which way I was headed. Once I found my bearings, it wasn't far to the cafe. I was just about to enter through the archway into the genial little restaurant when I collided with someone who, at the time, seemed a big blue blur as she came around the corner and ran into me. It was Lucina.

"Oh, Corrin! I'm s-sorry," she stuttered uncharacteristically, "Are you okay?"

I blushed and smiled at her, "Of course, yeah. It was just a small bump. Are you okay?"

" _Of course, yeah, it was just a small bump,_ " she imitated me. It was kinda cute. Talking to her seemed kind of different, knowing she shared my feelings.

I laughed, "Just coming from lunch, then?"

"Yeah, were you just headed there? Because there aren't many seats left."

"Darn, I guess I'd rather just come back in a while then," I acted like she had correctly assumed my intents. I wasn't hungry at all, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see her.

Her eyebrows raised a bit, "I didn't take you for the antisocial type. Introverted, yes, but actually avoiding a crowd? Hmm."

I smirked, "I'm sure you're no better."

"Well, no," her face turned a light shade of pink, "either way, we're away from the crowd now."

I genuinely hadn't noticed we had wandered down the hall, away from the cafe. She really did captivate me.

"Yeah, I guess we are. Where are you headed now?"

"I was going to go train for a while," I could see her eyes light up a split second after she said that, "You could join me if you'd like. You know, assuming you're not busy with something else."

A smile crept across my face, "Sounds like a plan. I haven't got my sword on me, how about I meet you there?"

"You need a real blade for training? How do you even manage that without destroying things?"

"Oh, I use the practice gel on it. No other sword feels quite right in my hand," I explained. That gel was something I had never seen before coming here. You simply apply it to your blade, and it's safe for practice. When you're done, you just wipe it off with a damp cloth. It's really a wonderful invention.

"Okay then. Well I've got mine, so I might as well just come with you, right?" she suggested. More time with Lucy? Sure.

"Great," I agreed with a nod, "This way."


	12. Worlds Left Behind

Worlds Left Behind

I watched Lucina as she obviously thought the same thing about the boys' wing as I did earlier about the girls' when I followed Luma, just like she was following me. The two dorm areas really were similar.

"I've, uh, never been in this wing. It's kind of a deja vu kind of feeling. Almost like a parallel universe to the one I know," she remarked, then shuddered slightly.

"What's wrong?" I asked, somewhat concerned. Parallel universe? How could that warrant a shiver like that?

Her facial expression changed from lost in thought to jumpy in a second, "Oh, nothing. It's just that my experience with parallel universes isn't exactly pleasant."

That didn't dispel my curiosity, "How so?"

"I'd rather not talk about it now. Maybe another time," she said.

I decided to let it go, "Okay then. So, how have you been?"

She shrugged, "Good. Not much has changed since I last saw you. It was only yesterday, after all. Thanks again for helping Luma, by the way."

"It really was nothing. Turn down this way," I guided her.

She shook her head, "What was that?"

Since she didn't turn, I nudged her and motioned down the hallway toward my room. She took the hint. A playful elbow to the ribs hit me back.

I chuckled, "My room's right here. Come on."

We stopped in front of my room. I could see a bit of a nervous glint in her eyes. The door swung open as I pushed into the room. At that moment, I was very glad it wasn't a mess. In fact, it was cleaner than normal.

She hesitated, "Can I come in?"

"I'll only be a moment, but sure," I continued into my room. My sword, the Yato, was normally kept under the bed. In my tired state I crashed into bed with Luma yesterday, I must have tossed it somewhere else. Lucina sat down on the edge of my bed and watched as I looked around for it. It turned out to be on my bookshelf under one of my Nohrian texts. Luma must have put it there.

Lucy must have realized how it got there, "Oh, that's funny. Luma does that all the time with Rosy's things. She can never find her wand. It's pretty funny watching her look for it as Luma acts like he has no clue where it is."

I laughed, "That's great. Anyway, I'm ready to go."

"Wait," she interrupted, "Who are these?"

She was pointing to a picture frame on my end table. It had caricatures of my four Nohrian siblings in it, sketched my one of my royal maids, Flora. Xander and Leo, my brothers, looked very serious, but I could still feel their friendly demeanor toward me through the images. Then there was Elise, my little sister. She exuded happiness and excitement, even through her portrait. In the other corner of the frame was my other sister, Camilla. Overbearing and caring to a fault, she was quite a sight. Any other man might be attracted to her, but of course I hadn't been.

After thinking about them for a moment, I responded, "Those are my brothers and sisters. The Nohrians, anyway. Apparently I have more in Hoshido, but I've only met them briefly. Those are the ones I'm close to, in the pictures."

"I think it's cute that you keep them by your bed. You must miss them a lot."

I blushed a little bit, "Yeah, they're probably what I miss most from my world. They're really all I had. That might change when I get back though. I kind of abandoned a bunch of opportunities when I came here. Hopefully things will be okay when I get back."

"I get that. My friends and my brother were all I had for a long time," she sighed. It seemed like she had a sensitive past. Maybe I'd get to know it someday.

"Yeah. Anyways, weren't we on our way to train?" I opened the door again, and we exited my room. We were quiet until we got to the training grounds, though. That's where the fun began.


	13. In The Heat Of Battle

In The Heat Of Battle

I applied the gel to my sword so I wouldn't seriously hurt my crush. These training grounds don't have the protection an actual stage does. There are protective, er, somethings in the air that make sure you don't get injured. I don't know how it works, but it does. Anyway, there wasn't anyone else there, just me and Lucina. Being as observant as she was, the whole trip had probably been planned at a time where she could practice alone. I was a convenient addition, though. We trained on some dummies for a while, then an idea popped into my head. Something to spice things up.

"Hey, Lucy. I've got a bet for you," I suggested. I could see it in her eyes that she was intrigued.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" she asked.

"We'll have a fight," I said, "Anything goes. Whoever wins gets one _favor_ from the other person."

A fire ignited in her eyes, "Does the winner pick what the favor is?"

"Sure. You game?"

I didn't need her to answer me. Every part of her told me that she was determined to win. I wasn't sure what she had in mind, but it must have been something good. I grabbed my sword and prepared for a duel.

She counted down, "Three, two, one!" and she immediately shot herself toward me with a passionate vigor. She really wanted to best me this time. I charged back at her. Our swords clashed with a loud _clang_. I noticed she was using her own sword, Falchion, instead of a practice sword. That was a good thing though, it wouldn't be a fair fight without it. We swung at each other again and again, but neither of us could land a blow for a good while. Then she struck me in the side and I was thrown to the ground. I could tell I would have been finished had I not rolled away in time. Back on my feet, I was able to jab her in the shoulder. She was knocked back, but not down. I could see fury in her eyes, even though we both knew this was a friendly fight.

"You won't beat me this time!" she yelled, taking a defensive stance. I also took a bit of a break.

"It wouldn't be the first time," I laughed, "Show me what you're made of!"

And with that, she was back at it. I parried her sword as she rushed at me. Once again, neither of us could land a blow. It was swing after swing, back and forth. I let out a huge roar. Rosy hadn't lied. Lucina was definitely impressed by my abilities. I decided to take a chance on a different battle style.

My body morphed into that of a large, white dragon. I batted her with my tail and was able to jump away from her swings. Even when she did hit me, more often than before, it wasn't much more than a scratch. Hopefully I could get her fascinated enough to distract her. Apparently not, though. She struck my head with a hard hit. My head fuzzy, I changed back to my human form. I didn't want to lose control, which had nearly happened before. It was a scary feeling, knowing that your instincts could kick in and hurt someone you cared about over whatever you were mad about. It was okay now though, because I was in control again. My sword skills kept her away from me as I tried to clear my head.

I could feel myself wearing down. Her eyes still held a fierce gaze as she slashed away at me, with increasing accuracy. I was mostly trying not to get hit rather than attacking her. It was only a matter of time before...

My defenses failed me. Her blade struck me with the strength of a burly man, and a huge pulse of agony washed over me. My breathing became strained, my sword flew out of my hand. She had dealt a great blow across my chest, causing me the worst pain I had felt as far as I could remember. The berserk look in her eyes changed to worry in seconds. I laid there on the ground, wheezing.

"Corrin! Corrin, are you okay? Please, Corrin, say something!" she exclaimed.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. It hurt too much for that. She yelled desperately in my face a couple more times, then ran for help. I didn't stay awake long enough to see her return.


	14. Out Of The Game

Out Of The Game

My head was a whole other kind of fuzzy when I woke up. It looked like I was in a healing room, but it was nicely decorated and there was medical equipment. Maybe the hospital wing had healing rooms built in for extra help. It seemed to be the evening, and I wished that it was the same day. Then the door swung open.

"Corrin?" somebody's voice was calling my name. It was feminine, but I couldn't tell who it was in my state. I was conscious, but other than that I wasn't doing much better than a few minutes before. Whoever it was, a blurry figure in an outfit I wasn't familiar with, came over to the bed I was laying in. They said my name again, and I wiggled my hand. However, I couldn't do much more. Before we got any further, the shred of awareness I possessed left me. I was gone again.

* * *

I heard Rosy call my name from behind me, down the hall.

"Lucy! Wait up!" she caught up to me with a slight jog, "What's up?"

"Oh, um," I was still shaken from the incident earlier, "I have news."

I could see the concern in her eyes as she wondered what had happened, "What is it? Did something happen?"

The words hurt as they left me, "Corrin's in the hospital wing. We sparred and I knocked him unconscious and hardly breathing. They've got him in a safe condition but he's not doing well."

Rosy started to say something, but didn't. She wrapped me in a hug instead, because she saw me shaking. A couple of sobs escaped me, then the tears came. Rosalina's motherly support of me was super comforting in that moment. I felt horrible about what I did to him. I was just immersed in my desire to win that fight, and his dragon form brought something to life in me that sparked a furious attack.

"Shh..." she held me tight, "It'll be okay. Let's go to your room, okay? Lucy?"

I nodded and headed down the hallway to my dorm. When we got there, I laid face down on my bed, crying into my pillow. The crying wasn't so much out of sadness or regret, but being overwhelmed. I had done this to Corrin, and I wouldn't let myself stop thinking about it. Rosy sat next to me and softly sang me a song. Somehow, she knew what would make me feel better. I was still overwhelmed and out of sorts, but the bawling was over. Her family of Lumas probably gave her lots of experience with crying people. Or stars.

After her song, we sat in silence for hours. I wanted to go visit him, but I knew I wouldn't be able to handle seeing him like that. Not after I put him in that state of injury. Rosy promised me she would check on him for me. Without her, I don't know what I would have done. It may well have been the end of Corrin and I. But Rosalina helped us through things from time to time. It wasn't until about midnight that she left for the hospital wing.

The next morning she told me that Corrin hadn't been awake when she got there. But I knew either way that he was in good hands. His recovery was certain, although probably lengthy. Dr. Mario had told her that it must have been quite a hit to knock him out so hard like that. And it was. I remember the jarring feeling in my arm as the huge strike knocked him to the ground. That was no smash fight, that was a true sword fight. I should have remembered not to use my full strength, like I would have against a monster back home. I already missed him, even though I knew he'd be awake soon. That night, I didn't sleep well. My mind was too filled with longing for his voice, his smile, his presence. It drove me crazy that I couldn't have any of those. Not for a while, anyway.


	15. To Pass The Time

To Pass The Time

I looked up at the ceiling from my hospital bed. It had been four or five days since the fight with Lucy. Anyone I talked to would only tell me it would be a while. Rosy had been in and out at least once a day, and apparently she was the one in here when I kinda woke up the first time. I had no clue. Lucy hadn't been in, which somewhat surprised me. I guess she felt guilty about it all. Or maybe Rosalina had told her I wasn't awake yet so she could have me all to herself. Apart from wanting to see Lucina, I didn't really care. There wasn't much I cared about, laying there alone. I was just living, day after day, looking forward to my normal life. I don't know why I hadn't missed Lucy, but I really hadn't. There wasn't much going through my head.

A knock came at the door. My voice, still weak, responded, "Come in."

"Hey, buddy," Rosalina walked over to me, "How's it going?"

I grunted, "Not much better. I don't know. I just wanna get out of here."

She frowned, "It's important that you get all the way better, Corrin. Is there anything I can do to make things easier on you?"

"Yeah, I guess. Can you ask Lucy to come see me?"

"I'll ask her. Anything else?" she asked.

"There's a big book with a tattered leather cover on my table next to my bed. It's not much, but I'd like something to do," I answered groggily. My old battle tactics book wasn't interesting so much as practical, but I was almost to the end of it. Even though it was a textbook more than anything, I decided I would read the whole thing, front to back.

Rosalina smiled, "Sure thing. I have to go, I'm starving. See you later, Corrin."

I waved with my very little energy, "Bye, Rosy."

* * *

The head of the training dummy flew off as I angrily slashed at it. Oops. I didn't think the wooden training sword I was using could do much damage. I picked the head up off the ground and threw it in the pile of broken supplies in the corner. It was nice to let off some steam after being frustrated about everything. I wanted to see Corrin, but at the same time, deep down, I didn't. I felt guilty about it, but I knew he would forgive me. It was all a bit too much sometimes. That, and the fact that this was the longest time since I met Corrin that I had been away from him. The events of the past week seemed like they had always been true. It felt like I had known him for ages. But all I needed right then was to beat something up. And I definitely did do that.

All that physical exertion had me soaked in sweat. I headed back to my dorm for a shower. On my way, I saw Rosy coming toward me down the hall. I turned off the other way, not wanting to talk. I just wanted to get cleaned up.

"Hey, Lucy! Where are you going?" she called after me. I ignored her and kept walking.

Not being one to give up easily, she sprinted up to me, "Lucina! Hey, you look beat."

"Yeah, I was just headed to my room for a shower. What do you want?" I asked, a bit irritated for some reason.

"Corrin had a few things he wanted me to tell you. I'll come with you and wait until you're done, okay?"

I sighed, "I'd rather just relax for a while, Rosy. I'll come over later."

"What's wrong, Lucy? What's with the tone?"

"Nothing, don't worry. I'll see you later," I answered. I wasn't sure I wanted to talk, much less about Corrin. She nodded, and I left for my room. As much as I was uninterested in talking to Rosalina, I was curious to hear what Corrin wanted to tell me. Maybe a little communication would help. The way things were going though, probably not.

Hot water beat down on my face. It felt really good to rinse off my skin after my _workout_ , or stress reliever as I'd call it. I thought I could hear something in my room, hopefully just my imagination. I thought it might be Rosy, and I was glad to find out that it wasn't. After I got dressed, I decided I should go see what she wanted, and headed off down the hall.

I opened the door, "Hey, Rosy. Sorry for being grumpy earlier."

Rosy wasn't right there, but Luma smiled at me. I heard her call from the bathroom, "It's fine, I'll be right there."

Luma jumped up next to me on the bed and cuddled in as I prepared for the conversation I had been avoiding for almost a week.


	16. Visiting The Wounded

Visiting The Wounded

"So how has he been?" I asked. Once I let myself care, I really was concerned about Corrin.

Rosalina shrugged, "He's getting better, slowly. I think he's getting tired of doing nothing all the time."

I nodded, "I don't blame him. Maybe we should bring him something to do. I wonder what he would want, though."

"Actually," she started, "Corrin asked for a book from his room. In fact, he asked me if I could get you to bring it to him. He misses you, Lucy."

I let that sink in for a second, "I guess I should stop being selfish and go see him, then. Did he tell you which one?"

Rosy smiled, "Yeah, I'll come with you and find it."

I didn't like something about that, "No, if he asked me to do it, maybe there's a reason. I know I wouldn't want guys in my room while I wasn't there, he probably doesn't want a bunch of girls. Plus, I've been in there before. Why don't you let me do it?"

"You're right, that makes sense. He said it was big, with a leather cover. And it's kind of beat up. I think he said it was on his bedside table," she explained.

"Okay, I think I'll go do that then," I got up, "Seeya later. Bye, Luma!"

With that, I was on my way back down the hall. I think I remembered where Corrin's room was. Sure enough, it turned out to be exactly where I thought it was. I knew it was the one with a scratch across the door. I wasn't sure I wanted to know how it got there, so I dismissed it. I tried the doorknob, but it was locked. Why hadn't he thought of that? Now what?

I looked at the door, trying to figure out what to do. The scratch was a rather deep gouge into the door, almost through to the other side. Near the bottom, there was something shiny wedged in the gap. I was sure it couldn't be a spare key. I was wrong about that. So I was in the room.

The book he wanted was obviously the heavy looking one next to his lamp. But I was alone in my crush's room. There was no was I was going to be in and out without snooping a little bit. I opened the book he had asked for. The first page had a title on it, "The Art Of War: A Nohrian Warrior's Guide To Training And Battlefields"

No juicy secrets there. I quietly opened the drawer of the table. There was a plain looking notepad in it, with battle notes on the front page. I flipped through it and found a rough sketch in blue ink. It was a portrait of me, seemingly the most flattering portrayal he could do. He had captured my look pretty well, although I think he made me look better than I did. Anyway, it touched my heart to see how he saw me.

I stopped dwelling on the picture and looked around his room. I didn't find anything else interesting. I couldn't help but look at the drawings of his siblings again. It was a cute way of remembering his family. I found it strange, though, that he didn't have any memoirs of his parents or other people. Maybe I'd have to ask about that.

Dr. Mario showed me to his room. Corrin was napping when I came in. I set the book down and sat next to his bed. I was very tempted to hold his hand, but if he woke up suddenly I'd be overwhelmingly embarrassed. After contemplating it, I settled on a hand resting on his forearm. I don't know how long I was there before he woke up.

* * *

My vision faded back in. To my surprise, Lucina was leaning over me, with one hand laying just above my wrist. Her face turned pink, and she drew her hand back.

"Oh, uh, Corrin!" she was startled, "Hi!"

I timidly took her hand and placed it back on my arm, "It's fine. Thanks for coming."

She started to vent, "I'm so sorry for doing this to you, Corrin. I know you know it was an accident, but I feel horrible. Then I couldn't bear to see you, and so Rosy was doing it for me, and then-"

I shushed her, "Don't worry about all of that. I'm just glad to see you. How have you been?"

"Me?" Lucy blinked quickly, "I've been, well, not so great. I haven't been able to, er... I can't sleep. Yeah, terrible time sleeping lately."

"I wonder why that is," I tried to squeeze whatever she had been going to say out of her.

She brushed a stray lock of her lovely hair out of her face, "Um, I don't know. Now that I think of it, I guess it hasn't been as bad as I remembered."

I chuckled, "You know, you're not a great liar, Lucy. You know you can talk to me, right? We're friends now, we can trust each other. What were you going to say before?"

"I, well," she hesitated, then let out a breath, "I missed you, Corrin. Really, I did."

"I missed you too, Lucy," I admitted, "We've been apart more than half as long as we've known each other. It was a huge contrast."

The anxious look on her face drained away, "Yeah, it was. I brought you your book, by the way."

"Oh, thanks," I smiled, "Sorry if it was trouble to go get it."

She grinned, "Your door was locked, but I discovered your hiding place for the spare key. Clever."

"Thank you. They fined me for damaging the door, but it was worth it. I'm a bit surprised nobody found it."

"Haha, yeah. It looks cool, though. Say, why are you reading through a textbook?" she asked

"It reminds me of home. I've seen our soldiers practice, and I like to know how they learned what they do. And I enjoy the battle planning stuff, tactics and all that."

We talked for hours, about anything we could come up with to keep the conversation going. Her hand slid down my arm into my hand, and it stayed there. Her grasp was gentle and light, which matched my weak grip pretty well. I could have chatted for another hour after, but Lucy had to go. She got up and left, and I stared down into my book. Before I knew it, my face was resting on the page. Thank the gods I don't drool in my sleep.


	17. Another Visit Or Two

Another Visit Or Two

"Hey, Rosy!" I called in a half whisper from the outside of her room. She didn't answer, but Luma stood on a box and opened the door for me.

"Where is she?" I asked the little thing in front of me. He let out a little squeal and pointed to her bed. There was Rosalina, taking a nap. I smiled.

I needed a bathroom pretty badly, so I relieved myself in hers while I was here. I always thought Rosy's shower curtain was a beautiful shade of purple, somewhere between fuchsia and lavender. And on the corner of it, '12-15" was written in small letters that were hard to see unless you were looking for them. There were only a few things about Rosalina that confused me, and that was one of them. She always just smiled when I brought it up, as if there was a joke or reference I didn't understand. Either way, the curtain was beautiful. I washed my hands, looking at myself in the mirror. After admiring the color, I couldn't help but see cute little details in my own face. Was this how Corrin saw me all the time? Did he dote on every little thing that made me beautiful? I liked to think so.

While it felt kind of strange to just use the toilet and leave, I didn't want to wake up my friend. So I waved goodbye to Luma and strode down the hall. I wasn't headed anywhere in particular, but I felt a bit energetic. Had it not been how I injured Corrin, I would have gone and found somebody to spar with, or gone to For Glory for the night. But I was sure it would have bothered me, so I decided to wander the halls instead. Perhaps I'd come across someone to talk to.

And I did find someone after all. Sheik, a fighter from Hyrule like Link and Ganondorf, crossed paths with me after half an hour or so. We were in a rarely used area, where the door to other worlds is. It was quite a device which only worked when a large portion of the roster and other people here voted that it should be used. As far as I knew, it had only ever brought people here, although I thought maybe it could let them leave just as easily. Maybe someday it would. But enough about the door.

I greeted the somewhat masked person in front of me, "Oh, hello. You're Sheik, right? My name's Lucina."

"Nice to meet you. Yes, I am Sheik. What are you doing here?"

"I was just wandering around for something to do. What about you?" I asked.

Sheik shrugged, "The door has always made me a bit curious. I don't have any reason to be near it, but sometimes I like to, simply out of interest."

"Do you wish you could go back? I'm sure most of us miss our homes a bit."

The mysterious figure looked at me, "No, I'm happier here. Maybe someday I would think about returning to Hyrule, but for now this is where I belong."

"I have a very similar opinion," I agreed, "this is the place for me."

"Yes, exactly. Now, I must be going. See you around, maybe?"

I nodded, "Yeah, sure. Say, I don't see you much outside of battles. Don't you have friends to visit around here?"

"Not many. Anyhow, I do have to go. Bye."

And with that, Sheik was around the corner and gone. What a mysterious person, although not scary or anything. Also, I couldn't really tell whether he was a man or a woman. I decided to go with man, because his voice was a bit masculine.

I continued my walk around the halls, still not really going anywhere. I grabbed a tea to go at Brewsters, and left for my room. Then I changed into some more comfortable clothes and got in bed. Considering going to sleep early, I was just closing my eyes when I heard a knock at the door.

"Hello? Who is it?" I asked in a soft voice.

Rosy answered, 'It's me. Sorry I wasn't awake when you came over earlier."

I got up to let her in, "How did you know I came?"

She explained, "The toilet woke me up, but I was still half asleep when you left. I just heard you leave."

"Oh, okay. I just got back from a walk after I left your place."

"Really?" she grinned, "Because it looks like you just got back from the cafe."

I laughed a little, "I stopped on the way back. Anyways, what's up?"

"Not much. What happened with Corrin?"

I had forgotten about my visit with him, which is why I had gone to see her in the first place. Now was my chance to tell her how things were going.


	18. So Dreamy

So Dreamy

"So I went in and sat next to him," I told her, "but he was asleep. So I put a hand on his arm and sat with him for a while. Then he woke up."

"That's cute," Rosy smiled.

I rolled my eyes, "I took my hand away, but he put it back where it was. Then I kind of vented about how I was so sorry I hurt him, and he said it as fine. We started to talk, and I almost said I hadn't been able to stop thinking about him. I tried to cover it up, but I had to tell him that I missed him. Then I gave him his book and we talked about how he misses his home, and where I come from, and my family, and..."

"Yeah, okay. You talked," she stuck her tongue out, "I get it. Anything else?"

"Oh yeah. So I had my hand on his arm, right? And I slowly moved it down into his palm, and we held hands for like an hour. It was awesome."

"Wow, how long were you there?" Rosy asked, a bit surprised.

"I'd say three or four hours, I'm not really sure."

"Wow, Lucy," she said, "You guys are so cute together. I wish I had a guy like that."

I sighed, "Yeah, he's great."

Rosy chuckled a little, "You don't know any, do you?"

"What, other guys? I guess, I met Sheik today. He was down by the door, the one to the other worlds."

"Ooh, he's cool. Kinda mysterious, if you ask me. I like that."

"Is he even a guy?" I wondered out loud, "He's kind of built like a girl."

Rosalina rolled her eyes, "Of course he's a guy. We call him _he_ , don't we?"

"Well yeah. I guess so."

We talked about other stuff, but I got tired. Rosy went back to her room to see how Luma was doing. I didn't take long to fall asleep, with thought of Corrin bringing me into a dreamy state.

* * *

I was laying in my bed again, awake. Without knocking, Corrin came in with a grin on his face. He walked over slowly, not saying anything. I felt my heart beat faster, not knowing what was coming. He stopped in front of me and looked at me, up and down. I noticed that I didn't have a blanket like I thought I did. That wasn't my first concern though, I was more concentrated on what Corrin had in store for me. He leaned down and kissed me, but it didn't feel like much. All I really felt was my heartbeat getting faster and faster. I was going to close my eyes, but it didn't happen. Instead, I watched him turn to my ear and whisper...

"Welcome to Dreamland. Enjoy your stay, sweetie."

The walls fell away around me, after which I fell into space, and saw a huge yellow star with Kirby's face on it. I flew toward it and then I don't really remember what happened after that. I ended up someplace colorful, and all I know apart from that is that I woke up dazed and confused. I enjoyed the first bit, but the rest was just really, really weird. _So weird._


	19. Someone Else's Turn

Someone Else's Turn

It had been two weeks since Lucina had put me in the hospital. What a boring way to spend a fortnight, I decided. I'd much rather be smashing, flirting with Lucy, and anything else I might have wanted to do. I had asked her to bring me a couple of things, a tea from Brewster's and a new book, which she brought me last night. It had been a while since I had finished the textbook, but I was fine without something to read for a couple of days. Rosalina got her to bring me a crossword book too. If the past few days had been any indication, this would be my new favorite pass-time. That, and going on dates with Lucy. We talked every other day or so, and concluded that, as soon as I could actually go on dates, we would be "casually dating". Nothing new had happened since the hand holding, but I could imagine where things might be going.

I started a new crossword, whose theme was "Assist Trophies". I didn't play For Fun at all, so it was a hard one. One of the hints was _vulnerable star_. Luma? No. I had to leave it blank, although I later found out it was Starfy, one of the only assist trophies that can be defeated.

It had been a good day, and I felt pretty strong. Dr. Mario came in late in the afternoon and assessed me. He was surprised with my condition, and decided to let me go. I breathed a sigh of relief and got my things together so I could leave. He brought me my clothes, and it wasn't long until I was walking down the hallway, an armful of books with me. I got to my room and put them back on my shelf. Then I figured maybe I should go see Lucy, and let her know I had regained my freedom.

Go see Lucina, sure. That was such a great plan. It totally didn't require knowing where I could find her. I had no clue where her room was. She didn't seem to frequent the cafe or For Glory. So where could I go? I could ask Rosy, but I didn't want the conversation to turn to how I knew where she was, only to reveal everything between me and Rosalina. What's a guy to do?

I gave up searching for ideas of how to find her, and stayed in my room. Even though I had been laying in bed for two weeks, I kinda wanted to relax. Maybe I'd gotten too used to it. But I got there, and I was bored. I didn't want to do any more crosswords that day, I didn't want to read, I didn't have anything else to do there, I didn't want to sit at the cafe, I didn't want to talk to Rosy, and I couldn't think of anything else to do. I only wanted to talk to Lucina. I grabbed my notebook out of the drawer in my bedside table and looked at the sketch I had drawn of Lucy, in a fitting blue ink. In my opinion, I had appropriately captured her highlights.

* * *

I walked through the dark halls, fairly late in the evening. Lucina had told me that Sheik was here last week, and I thought maybe I could meet him here. I wasn't sure about Sheik, but I wanted to find out what I thought of him. The door wasn't very far off. Corrin crossed my mind for some reason, but I didn't expect anything to be new with him. It was a bit lonely in the unused hallways, and I kinda wish I had brought Luma with me. But if I did see Sheik, I wouldn't really want anyone else there.

I stopped at the door, which was closed, of course. There was no possible way to open it by yourself, only through some sort of process that happened when the vote brought new fighters in. Somebody must control it, but I didn't know who. I remembered when I came here through that door, from my ship. And before that, I had gotten some sort of message from somebody, I don't really know how it worked.

"Oh, hello," I heard a voice say. I turned around, and saw Sheik standing there behind me.

Happy about that, I responded, "Hi! I was just looking at the door."

"I see that. I am Sheik, of Hyrule. Who are you?" he asked. It kind of bothered me that he didn't know me, but he didn't seem to know many people.

"I'm Rosalina. You can call me Rosy, though, if you want."

"Well, nice to meet you then, Rosy. I think maybe we could get to know each other," he suggested. I was excited to hear that.

I smiled, "I'd like that. Do you want to meet up somewhere, sometime?"

He nodded, "Yes. How about here, in two days, at eleven?"

"At night?" I verified, "That's kind of late, isn't it?"

"We're both here now, aren't we?" he joked.

"Sure, then. I'm getting awfully tired, so I guess I'll see you then. By the way, do you mind if I bring Luma? He's dependent on me, and unless I pretend to go to bed first, he'll want to know where I'm going."

He raised an eyebrow, "The little star? If you'd like to, I wouldn't object to him being there."

"Great!" I grinned, "Bye, Sheik."

"Goodbye, Rosalina," he waved, and we both turned separate ways down the hall. Hopefully this was the start of, well, something...


	20. Together Again

Together Again

I woke up to a knock at my door the next day, not knowing who it was, or why. But when I heard her voice say my name, I knew I was excited to have her visit. I had even fell asleep in my clothes last night, so I had no trouble simply allowing her to come in.

I sat up and greeted her, "Hey, Lucy. Sorry I didn't tell you I was out yesterday, but I couldn't find you."

"That's fine. Did you just wake up?" she laughed at me, probably bed headed and seedy eyed.

"Yeah, I did," I responded, "It's no trouble though, I'm glad to see you. I felt really good yesterday, so he let me go home. I wanted to come see you."

She shrugged, "That's sweet. Say, you don't know where my room is, do you?"

"Nope," I shook my head.

She grabbed a slip of paper off my table and drew a pen from her pocket and wrote '217' on it, with a little heart and said, "There you go. Room 217. That's the same floor as Rosy's, do you know where that is?"

"I don't think so," I lied, "But don't worry, I can find it."

"Actually, why don't I show you where it is now? We were just going to talk here, it's just as well that we do it there."

"Okay then, just let me get ready first," I said, getting up and going to the bathroom. Lucina had already been alone in my room once before, so it didn't bother me to leave her there now. I freshened up, then came out to find her sitting on my bed.

"Ready to go?" she asked, a smile on her lips and an enthusiastic look in her eyes. I nodded, and we were off down the hallway. We chatted about what we had done yesterday on our way to the girls' wing. Nothing too interesting, of course. She brought up that she was looking for something to read. Knowing that she wouldn't be very interested in my Nohrian combat texts, I suggested we go to the library sometime this week. She agreed.

We passed a couple of doors. 215, 216, 217. Lucy's room.

She opened the door, "Go on in."

It was more or less the same as all the other dorm rooms. I noticed that, contrary to what I expected, there was very little blue in her room. It was kind of linked to her, though, so I could see where it made sense that she would get tired of it. She had a red banner with a white symbol hanging near her bed. A few daisies sat on her bedside table in a vase. Interestingly, her sword was kept on a hook on the wall, hanging by the loop in the blade.

"Wow, your room is really nice," I said, looking around at all the little details I could notice.

"Thank you," she answered, sitting on her bed, "It's nothing special, but I guess it's nice."

I sat next to her, "What's that symbol on your banner?"

She moved over closer to me and grabbed my hand, resting between our thighs, "Oh, that represents my halidom, Ylisse. Most of my family have it somewhere on their bodies, for some reason. Mine's in my eye, see?" Lucy pointed to her left eye. I had to lean in close to see it properly, a small but intricate emblem that somewhat glowed over her pupil.

"That's really cool," I smiled, "I wish I had something like that. I mean, apart from my dragon powers. Those are technically from my family. Nobody else I know can do it, though. It's kind of strange."

"That is weird. It is kinda cool, though. It's not something I've ever seen another guy do, the manaketes from my world are all girls."

"Hmm... I wonder why. Actually, I could show you my dragon form if you want. You seem sort of interested by it."

Hey eyes lit up, "Could you? That would be great!"

I nodded, and stood up. I took my dragonstone from my pocket into my hand, and focused intensely. It was hard to transform outside of battle, for some reason. But I succeeded, morphing into a white dragon. Lucina giggled at the sight of such a beast in her room. She ran a hand across my back as if I were an animal, but I didn't mind at all. Her palm was warm against my spine, caressing me affectionately. I let out a small, quiet roar.

She giggled again, "This is so cool. You can turn back, if you want, though."

I transformed back into my human form, and we sat together for a while, idly talking about life and what was going to happen now that we could be together more. We only talked about where we were in our relationship for a minute, and it still seemed to be "casually dating". That was fine by me. When it got late, I had to say goodbye. She came and saw me to the door.

"I'll see you later, Corrin. Come see me here anytime you want, okay?" she told me.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I will. Goodnight, Lucy." In response, she leaned in and pecked me on the cheek.

Then she whispered in my ear, "Goodnight, Corrin."


	21. The Disloyal One

The Disloyal One

The next day I decided to go to the library to find something new to read. Some good fiction might be nice for a change, or maybe some sort of anthology.

I walked in and started browsing the shelves, passing a man named Dunban at the desk. He didn't seem like an obvious choice for the librarian role, but he did seem to be one of the more qualified people around. Either him or Jeff, Ness's friend. He was there too, now that I thought of it. He was rearranging one of the shelves as I was walking by it. Luckily I wasn't looking there, so I kept on past him. I stopped at the fictional novels. I thought of looking in folklore, but none of it interested me very much. I did see a book in that section labeled "Hoshido and Nohr: Kingdoms at War", and I chuckled. When neither of the librarians were looking, I moved it to the history section. Then I got back to looking for something to read.

So it wasn't fiction, but I found myself interested in a book from the world of Pokemon about legends and other history. I knew very little about where the Pokemon like Pikachu and Charizard came from, so I decided to give it a try. Once I got reading it I found that a lot of them were simple truths from their history, maybe made a little more interesting.

Sometime before I left, I got thinking about Lucina. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to know more about her that she hadn't told me. Being my only real way to get that info, I decided to cash in on my deal with Rosalina. I hated the price I'd have to pay, but it would be worth it. So once I checked out my book, I headed for Rosalina's room.

Luma let me in when I got to her door. He smiled and made one of his cute little noises to let Rosy know I was here. I heard her muffled voice from one of the other rooms in her dormitory.

"Oh, Corrin? Sorry, I'll be a minute. You can have a seat if you want," she said, sounding a little panicked. I wasn't sure what she was doing, but from the look of her bathroom through its open door, she had just showered. Hopefully she wasn't just getting out, with the door hanging wide open. I was glad to see her come out of her closet instead, in her blue jumpsuit. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and visibly damp.

She sat next to me on the edge of her bed, "I was just trying to decide what to wear. Luckily I had closed the door," she giggled quietly, "Did you need something?"

"Yeah," I started, "I don't really want to do this, but I need the info. I want to, er, do our little _exchange_ again."

"You mean the one where I get a kiss and I tell you what you want to know?" she frowned, "You're sure?"

A small shiver went down my spine, "Yeah. I'm willing to do it for my relationship with Lucy. Let's just get it over with."

"Well, I'm not sure..." Rosy hesitated, surprisingly, "Corrin, I don't know if I even want this..."

"So you're not interested in me anymore?" I had to keep myself from smiling, "I'm more than okay with that."

She closed her eyes, "I, um, I don't really know. I still, uh, like you like I did before. But that was just a physical attraction. Now I know you for who you are, and..."

"And what?" I asked.

Rosalina let out a sigh, "Don't tell anyone about this, okay? I swear, if this gets out I'm going to hit you twice as hard as Lucy did. Okay?"

"Sure, I can keep a secret. What is it?"

"It's Sheik," she collapsed onto her bed and sighed again, loudly, "That was hard. I don't give out my secrets, ever. But there it is. I feel some sort of strong connection with him, and even though I kinda want that kiss, I'd feel like I wasn't giving him my real attention. Sorry to dump this on you."

"Don't worry about it. Even though you've been kind of manipulative to me, I can't help but be glad to know that you trust me, Rosy. Not only that, but I'm happy for you. Not that you're off my back, but that you've got someone to be passionate about," I smiled supportingly.

"Thank you, Corrin. I think we're really friends now. Oh, you wanted me to give you some dirt on Lucy. Don't worry about paying me back, it's not about that anymore. I'm just happy to help."

I stopped her, "Wait, listen for a second. I just realized, isn't what you're doing for me almost as bad as what you were making me do for you? Like, when I said just now that I'd keep your secret, don't you tell Lucy the same? Honestly, it kinda makes us look bad if you look at the whole picture. We're being unfair to her. Can we just forget about this whole secret trading thing?"

"You're right," her eyes went from caring, to surprised, to almost a worried look, "Oh, Corrin, I've been such a horrible friend to her."

All of a sudden, she leaned in to my side and started to cry quietly. I reassured her that it would be okay and Lucy would never know. Rosalina didn't respond, apart from a few sad whimpers. Luma cuddled into her chest, and she wrapped herself around him. I patted her on the head, gave Luma a thumbs up, and stood up. I left them together and went to the cafe for a while. Lucina walked in after about ten minutes.

"Oh, hey Corrin," she grinned, sitting across from me.

"Hi, Lucy. I just saw Rosy in the hall and she looked sad. Don't let on that I said anything, but she might like a visit."

"Thanks. You're a good friend. Maybe I'll see you here after?"

I smiled at her, "Yeah, I think you might."

As she left, I felt like a veritable saint. Sure, I lied to Lucina, but Rosy would feel better with her friend nearby. Hopefully Rosy didn't reveal anything that would hurt my connection with Lucy. But I knew that worst case scenario, Lucina would see it wasn't my fault, and Rosy would still have me and Sheik to rely on.


	22. The Blue

The Blue

Despite my worst fears about sending Lucy to comfort Rosy, nothing was different between us when she came back later that night. I was glad to see that. Either Rosy hadn't told her about my end of our deal, or Lucina didn't care.

I greeted her as she sat across from me again, "You're back. How is she?"

We shared a smile as she told me, "Better. She told me about how she was telling you my secrets. Don't worry about that. I'm kinda mad at her about it, but I don't blame you one bit. To be honest, I would have done the same to you. And she told me about how you paid her back."

I paled, "It was all her idea, Lucina. I didn't even have a choice the first time, and I..."

"Corrin," she cut me off, "I already told you I would have done the same thing. It's okay. I'm willing to look past all that because I know that what we have here is just too strong to be hurt. Everything is fine between the three of us. Now, let's talk about something happier, please."

A wave of relief rushed over me, "Um, I got a new book from the library. It's about Pokemon history."

"That sounds cool. I'm slowly working my way through one about some old legend that I never really cared about when my father told me about it. I like reading things from home," she said.

"Oh, that seems nice. What is it? Maybe we have it in Nohr, too."

She laughed, and pulled the book from her bag. It was another copy of the book I found about Hoshido and Nohr in the library today. I laughed too, although I wasn't sure why.

"No matter how real you are to me, I just can't believe that you come from my fairy-tales," she joked, "It's like dating a talking pegasus."

"I'm sure it is. Although, with all these people from all these places, it's not a lot different from anyone else here," I suggested.

She nodded, "Yeah, I guess so."

We chatted for a while, then she suggested we go somewhere else because she was getting a bit tired and wanted to relax. I agreed, and suggested my room, since we went to hers last time. We walked there hand in hand, continuing our conversation. Once we got there, I opened the door and she went ahead and stretched herself onto my bed. She was very cute, yawning as she extended her arms and brought them back to her sides. I laid beside her, placing my hand in hers. We laid like that for a while, then she moved in closer to me, moving my arm around her shoulders. I wasn't sure I would have called it cuddling, exactly, but it was.

She spoke more softly than she had been, "I like this."

"Yeah," I said with a warm tone, "Me too."

We didn't talk very much over the next couple of hours. It was more than enough to just have her in my arms. I could feel her breaths, her heartbeat, and her every move. Her blue hair, eyes and outfit wrapped me in a calm feeling that just seemed right. This is what I wanted, and where I wanted to be. In the blue.

I don't know how long we were there, but eventually her eyes caught sight of my clock made of gnarled old wood. It read 22:00, and she reluctantly decided that she ought to be back in her room before she fell asleep. I helped her to her feet, and hugged her tightly so that I could feel her warmth once more before she left.

"Goodnight, Corrin," she smiled at me with a look of vulnerability I hadn't seen in her before. Normally she seemed so sure of herself, and focused. But right now I could see that I was the biggest thing on her mind, and very little else.

I grinned, "Goodnight, Lucy," and I grabbed her shoulder. I didn't want her to leave just yet, though I wasn't sure why. But somewhere deep inside of me, I knew what I wanted. My beautiful girl with the dark blue hair wouldn't leave without one last thing.

All at once, I leaned into her and kissed her, even though I barely knew what I was doing. She returned the kiss, and it turned into a long, passionate connection. Her tongue made its way to mine, and they danced gently across each other. But soon we remembered that it was time for her to go. We looked each other in the eye as I slowly swung the door in between us. And just like that, she was gone.


	23. The End Of The Beginning

The End Of The Beginning

The past two weeks had been a blur to me. Ever since Corrin kissed me, my world moved at twice its normal speed. We were smashing again, we were making out every other night, and I fell asleep in his arms once or twice. He was the one for me, and I knew he felt the same about me. Rosalina was like a different girl after she broke down and let it all go. Her eyes had a new sparkle to them. She talked to Corrin like she did to me. Life was great.

But as all things change, our new lives started to feel like they were simply the new normal. It wasn't exciting. We went back to doing things from our old routines. This change wasn't bad, though. Rosalina, Corrin and I had found the perfect balance of love, friendship, and everyday life. Well, if you can call living at a fight club _everyday_. And we do. It is our everyday.

Rosalina had begun a new adventure. She found out everything she needed to be sent back to her world. Now, I know what you're thinking. _Rosy can't leave! Why does she even want to leave? This is your happy ending!_

Put yourself in her shoes. What did she leave behind in her world? Only a couple hundred baby stars. Yeah, she decided to go visit all of Luma's brothers and sisters back home. And she came back. It had never been done before. Nobody has ever gone on a _vacation_ from Smash. But sure enough, we all watched Rosy walk through the door to her world one week ago, and today we all watched her walk right back through, dozens of colors of Lumas at her back. Then the three of us went back to her room to celebrate.

It wasn't a huge celebration. We just relaxed, hung out, and played some games. It was fun. After about an hour of that, Rosy saw something marked on her calendar for today.

 _Corrin Problem_

"Hey Lucy," she said with a smirk, "Look at this."

I saw it, "Oh yeah," I laughed, "I did say I'd do that today, didn't I?"

He gave me a weird look, "Do what, exactly?"

"Ask you, officially, to be my boyfriend," I said, blushing.

He raised his eyebrows, then chuckled, "Of course I will, Lucy. You didn't think I'd turn you down, did you?"

"Well, no," I told him, "that was a month ago. Not long after we met."

And that was that. I kinda felt bad, he was probably worried about it. He had been in Rosy's room plenty of times, after all, and he was more observant than me. Surely he'd seen it. We kissed to seal the deal, Rosy giggled, and we all spent the night having fun together.

* * *

It was late that night, and I wanted to talk to Rosy. I'd had a bad dream, and even though it was 1 in the morning, I knew she'd be there for me. It sounded like she was awake, too. Without really wondering why or bothering to knock, I opened the door.

Rosy locked eyes with me, and pushed Sheik off of her. Sheik had, uh, _her_ mask off, revealing her much more feminine features. The two had been kissing passionately, Sheik leaning over her.

"Lucy!" she yelled, followed by a word I don't like to say.

I flushed red and slammed the door shut, leaving me back in the hallway. I'm sure they went back at it when I left, but I didn't stick around. Corrin would cheer me up from my nightmares.

* * *

I knocked on Rosy's door, to make sure this time.

"Lucy? Come on in," she called.

I came in and sat on her bed with her. We exchanged an awkward glance.

"I thought you were convinced that Sheik was a guy," I teased her. It didn't seem to bother her, though, seeing the way the two girls were loving each other last night.

She scoffed, "I can't believe we didn't see through her disguise. It's Zelda."

I exclaimed, "What? Really?"

"Yeah," Rosy said, "But as you clearly saw, that works for me. I still think she's super hot."

"I noticed," I giggled, "Say, how long have you guys been, er, doing that?"

"We started flirting a couple of weeks back. I found out she was a girl a little while before I left. And then, well, that. I think we're just going to announce it, no matter what people think. We don't really care."

"Cool," I smiled. We talked for a while, but I had to go. Someone else was waiting for me.

* * *

Wow, he's hot.

That's what I was thinking when he drew his sword. I know, I know, I had been dating him for two or three weeks now. But I didn't care, because we were smashing. I wouldn't hold back, and I knew he wouldn't either. He knew he couldn't injure me or cause any permanent damage. We'd both feel the same afterwards.

It was just like when we met. Except this time, I stood a chance. We struck blows, parried against each other. I knocked him off the stage first this time, and I laughed. Hard. He came back with new vigor, but it wasn't enough. I knocked him away again, and grinned at my victory.

Because even though we were made for each other, this wasn't just for love. This was For Glory.


End file.
